This invention concerns a door stopper for a motor vehicle door having a piston-cylinder unit which can be arranged substantially longitudinally inside the motor vehicle door, can be connected in a swiveling manner at a first end with the motor vehicle door, and can interact at a second end on a stationary structural section of a structure of the motor vehicle, as well as a motor vehicle door with a door stopper of this type.
Door stoppers with piston-cylinder units for motor vehicle doors are known from German Patent document 44 00 784 C1 and German Patent document 35 19 203 A1, for example. According to the latter document, a door stopper is arranged in a stationary structural section, such as a door column, of the motor vehicle. German Patent document DE 44 00 784 C1 describes providing an infinitely variable door stopper apparatus so that a motor vehicle door can be held in any desired open position. The door stopper includes a piston-cylinder unit for this purpose, in which the piston within the cylinder can be blocked in any position. The piston-cylinder unit is arranged inside the door body of the motor vehicle door and thereby pivoted with a first end on the motor vehicle door. The other end of the piston-cylinder unit projects out of the door body in the region of the door rabbet and is connected so as to interact with a stationary structural section, namely a door column. The cylinder is swiveled with the door, and the piston rod, projecting out of the cylinder, is swiveled with the door column. When opening or closing the door, the piston is moved inside the cylinder and, in this way, the piston rod is displaced more or less out of the cylinder. In addition to extension by drawing out the piston rod, the piston-cylinder unit is subjected to a swiveling motion when the motor vehicle door is moved, and thus opened or closed. The recess in the door rabbet penetrated by the piston rod is constructed with corresponding breadth so that swiveling of the piston-cylinder unit is not impeded.
An object of the invention is to provide a door stopper, or a motor vehicle door including a door stopper, which requires reduced construction space inside the motor vehicle door.
This object is achieved by way of a door stopper or a motor vehicle door including a door stopper having a multi-part lever mechanism, which converts a swiveling motion of the motor vehicle door during opening or closing on the piston-cylinder unit chiefly into a back and forth thrusting motion. At least a first lever of the lever mechanism can be guided out of the motor vehicle door and connected with the stationary structural section on a first swiveling axis. Further features of the invention are defined by the claims.
Advantages attained with the invention can be seen when the motor vehicle door moves. The piston-cylinder unit in this case requires a reduced swiveling region, since, in accordance with the invention, the multi-part lever mechanism is arranged between the piston-cylinder unit and the stationary structural section. The mechanism basically transforms the swiveling motion of the motor vehicle door upon opening or closing into a back and forth thrusting motion. A certain swiveling of the piston-cylinder thus can be present, but the back and forth thrusting motion represents the main motion. In this way, the piston of the piston-cylinder unit can be moved without the entire piston-cylinder unit needing an associated swiveling area. This results advantageously in an almost arbitrary installation site with reduced construction space of the door stopper inside the motor vehicle door, especially since further units, such as window lifts, air bag devices, loud speakers, or other installations, are to be accommodated in motor vehicle doors of this type.
In accordance with certain features of the door stopper, the piston-cylinder unit is continuously blockable so that the motor vehicle door can be held in almost any open position.
The multi-part lever mechanism is preferably a crank mechanism in one configuration of the invention. Crank mechanisms of this type are inexpensive and, in addition, relatively immune to disturbance, so that a long service life can be expected.
According to one embodiment, the piston-cylinder unit is a member of a multi-part lever mechanism, such as the piston rod of the crank mechanism.
An especially simple crank mechanism has merely a linkage, a crank, and the thrust rod. The linkage of the crank mechanism, moreover, can produce the connection with the stationary structural section.
An especially advantageous further development of the invention is one in which the crank mechanism supplies a lever reduction in addition to transforming the swiveling motion of the door into back and forth thrusting motion, with the lever reduction leading to a diminished blocking force inside the piston-cylinder unit. A correspondingly economical design of the piston-cylinder unit is consequently possible. The gear ratio of the lever reduction can be altered as a function of the distance the second swiveling axis is arranged in relation to the third or fourth swiveling axis.
Due to the fact that the piston-cylinder unit requires only a small swiveling range when the motor vehicle doors are moving, the door stopper of the invention can also be used in motor vehicle doors which are outfitted with a door window which can be lowered. If the door window is lowered, the space available inside the door body is significantly reduced. With the door stopper of the invention, however, a door stopper having the piston-cylinder unit can also be used easily for such motor vehicle doors.
In one especially preferred embodiment, the piston-cylinder unit is arranged between exterior skin of the door body and a lowering plane of the door window. Consequently, sufficient space remains inside the door body for other elements. Moreover, the piston-cylinder unit can be arranged at almost any desired height inside the door body and need not necessarily be arranged in the lower region of the door body, which is not tangent to the lowered door window.
In another especially preferred embodiment, the piston-cylinder unit is arranged in a swiveling manner on a safety reinforcement of the door body. The safety reinforcement usually consists of a support extending in a longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle door, which is intended to protect the motor vehicle occupants, especially in the event of a side impact.
According to yet another especially preferred embodiment, the piston-cylinder unit is arranged between the upper and lower hinge elements with respect to the height of the vehicle door, resulting in an optimized introduction of force into the lever mechanism or into the piston-cylinder unit.
The invention will be explained in greater detail below with reference to the drawings.